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ROGERS CUP WOMEN

August 12, 2011

Samantha Stosur

TORONTO, ONTARIO

S. STOSUR/R. Vinci
6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations, first of all. For you guys, this is a grind, obviously, but for fans in Toronto they only get to see you guys once every two years. So when you make the semis like this, it's an introduction to the city when they really catch on on the weekend. How aware are you guys of that idea of becoming a big deal in a new city, and what have your impressions of Toronto been?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I guess because we go to a new city kind of every year, it's always the same kind of thing.
I guess certain tournaments, especially like this, you realize how much the fans appreciate the tournament being back here. Everyone involved with the event does such a good job, and I think, you know, it shows how popular it is with how many volunteers they have and how many people come to watch during quallies and just practice days.
So obviously I think any time a big sporting event and something like our tournaments come to a town, it's great for the, you know, the economy. We all go out to eat and all stay in the hotels. I think it's a really good thing for each city we go to.

Q. For Toronto, in general, your impressions?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I have really enjoyed my time, staying downtown, found some nice restaurants that I like going to. Yeah, it's been a really good week.

Q. It looked like you were serving really well out there. Is that something you have been working on, or it just came together?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I think as the match went on, I obviously probably grew in confidence, and then you get that bit of a lead with a buffer of a couple breaks and felt like I could maybe start going for a bit more; whereas at the start I was just trying to kick it in, get it hard to her backhand, really make a high percentage, and then you start feeling it. I went for some big ones, and it pay paid off.

Q. At what point do you think, I can win this thing?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Oh, I think, you know, semifinals you've got to believe that anything is possible. You know, from even having said that from semifinals to winning the tournament, there's still a long way to go, but I think in this position you've got to. If you don't, then it's probably a little bit silly.

Q. Did you have any problem with Roberta, different style of play?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I knew going into the match that she obviously has a different style, and, you know, I kind of thought I knew the way she was gonna try and play against me, and I was prepared for that. It is definitely tricky.
She obviously hits a lot more slice backhands than most players and kind of moves the ball around a bit differently and doesn't have the big power game.
But playing someone like her, I quite enjoy I guess that challenge of having to work things out, and maybe you don't win the point on the first or second shot, maybe take three or four balls and then you can set up and then you get your opportunity.

Q. At the end of the first set, along the same lines, you seemed to be running around the forehand a lot. Was that a conscious decision or did that just sort of happen naturally?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I always try and do that, anyway. That's my kind of style or trying, I guess, get as many forehands as I can and play from, you know, that side a little bit more.
I think playing someone like her, I wanted to try and keep aggressive and it was hard to do that off a backhand when she's keeping the ball very low and whatever.
So it was kind of what I had intentionally set out to try and do.

Q. In honor of your victory I'm wearing sunglasses in the press room. I wanted to ask you, I did a little survey from a lot of eye surgeons, and a lot of them are wondering, why aren't there more tennis players wearing sunglasses? Because you obviously care about your eyes. They claim that the longer players go without wearing sunglasses is going to result in a lot of eye damage later on. I just want to know if you are wearing the sunglasses not only for your health -- it seems to be almost as much of a trademark for you. I just wanted to know if that's a conscious effort that you made early in your life.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: It wasn't a conscious effort for any of those reasons other than when I was about 14, I thought it might be kind of cool and I'd look different to everyone else, so I just wanted to wear them.
Mom and dad went out and bought me some, and ever since I've always played in them. I think now it's just like I take my racquets, I take my sunglasses, and it's part of, you know, everything that I take to the court to play.
Yeah, I don't know how a lot of players can see -- not just the sun but the glare out there. So that's the main reason why I really wear them, and, yeah, always have.

Q. You were pretty dominant in that second set. What was your mindset going into that last set?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I think once I won that first set, obviously you can kind of not relax but you feel like you've definitely got a bit of a lead going. And for her to lose serve in that last game when she had a couple of opportunities on my serve and then I was able to get ahead, and once I broke early in that second set, really felt like I was in control of the match.
So, you know, it's always important to try and start sets off well, whether you've just won the first set or lost it. I think I was really -- I was able to do that well today and never let her get back into it.

Q. Can you just comment a little bit on the two potential opponents you've got in the semifinal? Their style is different, approach it differently?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, yeah, they're definitely different style players. Petkovic has more of the power game and goes for it more whereas Agi kind of plays a different style, likes to absorb the pace and move ball around and really can, you know, work out what's going on quite well.
So I think it's two different styles. I think one, you've got to be aware of your unforced errors and try and keep those to a minimum and still play aggressive, and the other one, you've got to go for it but still know she's gonna come up with some very good winners and maybe throw in some errors as well.
I guess I'll wait and see who it is and then really think about it then.

Q. Do you like to watch the games of your competitors coming up? Like will you watch this afternoon's match live?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I will probably watch a little bit from upstairs a little bit. I don't always watch.
If it's on and I'm not doing anything else, then I'll watch it. That's why I have a coach and he does all that hard stuff. (Smiling.) Then we talk about it later.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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